Opinion + Petrol prices | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/commentisfree+money/petrol-prices
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The Guardian view on spending cuts without inflation: harder times | Editorialhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/15/guardian-view-on-spending-cuts-without-inflation-harder-times
Inflation has been the chancellor’s little helper in reducing public spending. Without it, even more brutal decisions could be required<br /><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mortgage-and-landlord-possession-statistics-july-to-september-2014" title="">Evictions are up</a>, and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jan/03/meals-on-wheels-elderly-declined-coalition" title="">meals on wheels right down</a>. Vulnerable, and often hidden, parts of the community are hurting. But there has not yet been the wholesale unravelling of the public realm which many would have predicted on the strength of the cuts already imposed. Rubbish is not piling up in the streets; the dead are not going unburied.</p><p>With nearly £60bn a year lopped off real public-service spending, why isn’t more damage visible to the naked eye? David Cameron might like to imagine that his great overhauls of schools and hospitals have allowed managers to “do more with less”. The reality is more prosaic: inflation has done&nbsp;much of the work. The 1% caps on public pay and benefits has been not a cap but, a cut in real terms, saving the Treasury money. Salaries are, after all, the biggest chunk of public-service spending – not far from half the total bill. During Britain’s long stagnation, decent jobs have been thin on the ground, and public servants have had no alternative but to swallow the squeeze. Professional morale takes a knock, but so long as services remain adequately staffed, the public isn’t hurt too much. People certainly notice that their benefits buy less, but just as many may blame the shops as the politicians. At least, that is what George Osborne calculates. For all the noise about the bedroom tax and disability cuts, the chancellor has pencilled in far deeper savings to come from dismantling the old rules linking payments with living costs.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/15/guardian-view-on-spending-cuts-without-inflation-harder-times">Continue reading...</a>InflationPublic sector cutsPublic services policySocial carePublic financeSocietyPublic sector payNHSHealthPetrol pricesEducationEducation policyPoliticsHousingThu, 15 Jan 2015 19:34:55 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/15/guardian-view-on-spending-cuts-without-inflation-harder-timesPhotograph: Christopher Thomond for The Guardian./Christopher ThomondTUC members in Liverpool protest against public sector pay, pensions and working conditions. 'Capping rises pay and benefits at 1% will steadily work wonders for the public finances.' But sinking inflation spells danger. Photograph: Christopher ThomondPhotograph: Christopher Thomond for The Guardian./Christopher ThomondTUC members in Liverpool protest against public sector pay, pensions and working conditions. 'Capping rises pay and benefits at 1% will steadily work wonders for the public finances.' But sinking inflation spells danger. Photograph: Christopher ThomondEditorial2015-01-15T19:34:55ZIf you live in a city, you don't need a car | Joanna Moorheadhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/mar/06/live-city-dont-need-car
We live near a train station, bus stop and car club. After being forced to go car-free, I doubt we'll ever own one again<p>Cars cost – and how. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21675153" title="">According to the RAC</a>, we spend between 12% and 26% of our disposable income on buying and running a car – and, unsurprisingly, the poorest households spend the biggest proportion of their funds on them.</p><p>The RAC sees this as the strongest argument yet for a reduction in fuel duty in the upcoming budget. "These figures should shock the chancellor," says ProfStephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation. "It lays bare the truth about the extent of transport poverty in the UK."</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/mar/06/live-city-dont-need-car">Continue reading...</a>Family financesMotoringFuel dutyMoneyLife and styleFamilyUK newsTaxTax and spendingPetrol pricesPoliticsWed, 06 Mar 2013 14:00:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/mar/06/live-city-dont-need-carPhotograph: Andy Butterton/EMPICS'I live in a community that has never been better served by public transport, and yet car ownership has never been higher.' Photograph: Andy Butterton/EMPICSPhotograph: Andy Butterton/EMPICS'I live in a community that has never been better served by public transport, and yet car ownership has never been higher.' Photograph: Andy Butterton/EMPICSJoanna Moorhead2013-03-06T14:00:02ZPetrol prices: all pumped up | Editorialhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/30/fuel-price-oft-review
It's time for more transparency over wholesale fuel prices and for the Department of Transport to launch a review<p>If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. Unless of course you're an economist at the Office of Fair Trading – in which case it is a magnificent swan, gliding serenely down one of Her Majesty's waterways. That, at least, is the conclusion one must draw from <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/jan/30/oft-rules-out-petrol-prices-inquiry" title="">the competition watchdog's report</a> on the petrol and diesel market, published yesterday.</p><p>Here is a sector worth £47bn a year and essential to tens of millions of Britons going to work, to the shops and to drop off their children at school. Here is an industry that the former transport secretary Justine Greening <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2164264/Transport-Secretary-Justine-Greening-says-petrol-prices-rise-help-clear-UK-debt.html" title="">has attacked</a> for not passing on savings to customers, which energy minister <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/9836448/Ministers-to-blame-for-high-fuel-prices-says-competition-watchdog.html" title="">Sandip Verma has lambasted</a> for "ripping off" motorists, and which driving associations such as the AA have been calling on for years to become more transparent.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/30/fuel-price-oft-review">Continue reading...</a>Fuel dutyPetrol pricesOilOil and gas companiesPoliticsUK newsWed, 30 Jan 2013 22:13:49 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/30/fuel-price-oft-reviewEditorial2013-01-30T22:13:49ZAutumn statement: dodgy sums, breached promises | Editorialhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/dec/05/autumn-statement-dodgy-sums-editorial
Both the chancellor's economic forecasts and his budget assumptions have been found mistaken yet again<p>How many objectionable assertions did George Osborne shovel into his autumn statement? "The economy is healing." Not according to the chancellor's own tax-and-spend watchdog. The Office for Budget Responsibility thinks the economy is more fragile than it looked even in spring, with the nation's annual income set to shrink this year and grow a feeble 1.2% in 2013 (against March's forecast of 2% and June 2010's prediction of 2.8%). "We're on the right track." Except that the government now admits it will miss one of its two key budget targets: that the debt-to-GDP ratio should be falling by 2015. Not only that, but the longest and sharpest austerity programme imposed on any big rich country since 1945 will now carry on for a full eight years (at least), rather than the one parliament originally envisaged. How about the claim that this was a mini-budget for "strivers"? The well-respected Resolution Foundation calculates that the majority, <a href="http://www.resolutionfoundation.org/blog/2012/Dec/05/autumn-statement-strivers/" title="">around 60%, of the households hit by a real-terms cut to benefits and tax credits</a> are in work.</p><p>Then there are the assumptions the chancellor has made about the budgetary outlook over the next few years – at best heroic, at worst dodgy. Much more is at stake here than the usual Westminster jockeying. When Mr Osborne moved into Downing Street, he initially lived up to his promise to be a straight-dealer. The red books issued by his Treasury were relatively clear – a joy after the bombast and obfuscation of some of the documents pushed out by Gordon Brown. Yet some of the sums offered up by the Treasury (and <a href="http://cdn.budgetresponsibility.independent.gov.uk/December-2012-Economic-and-fiscal-outlook23423423.pdf" title="">approved by an obliging OBR</a>) were far too questionable to bet a country's finances on.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/dec/05/autumn-statement-dodgy-sums-editorial">Continue reading...</a>Autumn statement 2012Economic policyEconomicsBudgetGeorge OsbornePoliticsFuel dutyTaxTax and spendingPetrol pricesUK newsMoneyGovernment borrowingBusinessWed, 05 Dec 2012 22:13:12 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/dec/05/autumn-statement-dodgy-sums-editorialEditorial2012-12-05T22:13:12ZPetrol prices: pouring fuel on the electoral fire | Editorialhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/apr/06/petrol-prices-fuel-electoral-fire
Spikes in crude prices have preceded every recession in industrialised countries since the second world war<p>Forget jerry cans. Memories of the government's mishandling of the tanker dispute may be fading, but a bigger and trickier petrol problem is already rearing its head: rising prices.</p><p>The price of a litre of unleaded has surged from 120p at the start of last year <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/apr/04/petrol-fuel-prices-uk" title="">to 141p at the beginning of this month</a>. Even without the dubious benefit of <a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/politics/4235372/Fuel-crisis-minister-Maude-sidelined-over-jerry-can-gaffe.html" title="">Francis Maude's wisdom</a>, petrol and diesel are on course to get much more expensive. Adjusting for inflation, oil prices are already touching record highs and – <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/u-not-backing-off-iran-sanctions-bite-000101653.html" title="">as tension between Washington and Tehran escalates</a> – the upward pressure is unlikely to go away. Iran exports about 2.6m barrels of oil a day, or 3% of what the world uses; by the middle of this year, sanctions will cut that by nearly 1m barrels a day. And even if Saudi Arabia obliges by pumping extra oil, that is against a backdrop of limited stocks in consuming countries and constrained supply in producing nations.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/apr/06/petrol-prices-fuel-electoral-fire">Continue reading...</a>Petrol pricesFuel tanker drivers' disputeTrade unionsTransportRoad transportUK newsFuel povertyMotoringWorld newsOilTax and spendingFri, 06 Apr 2012 20:53:22 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/apr/06/petrol-prices-fuel-electoral-fireEditorial2012-04-06T20:53:22ZIf you can't stand the heat …https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/cartoon/2012/apr/01/david-cameron-pasty-fuel-crisis
Chris Riddell on the week when things got a little hot for the coalition government <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/cartoon/2012/apr/01/david-cameron-pasty-fuel-crisis">Continue reading...</a>David CameronBudgetPetrol pricesFrancis MaudeMasterChefSat, 31 Mar 2012 23:05:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/cartoon/2012/apr/01/david-cameron-pasty-fuel-crisisChris Riddell2012-03-31T23:05:00ZSteve Bell on David Cameron and petrol tanker drivers' strike – cartoonhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cartoon/2012/mar/29/steve-bell-cartoon-david-cameron-petrol-panic
Government under fire over panic buying of petrol after Francis Maude's jerry can gaffe <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cartoon/2012/mar/29/steve-bell-cartoon-david-cameron-petrol-panic">Continue reading...</a>Trade unionsPetrol pricesFrancis MaudeUK newsPoliticsDavid CameronThu, 29 Mar 2012 22:52:08 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cartoon/2012/mar/29/steve-bell-cartoon-david-cameron-petrol-panicSteve Bell2012-03-29T22:52:08ZPetrol panic: a wartime spirit | Joe Moranhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/mar/29/petrol-panic-wartime-spirit-symbolism
From queueing to jerry cans, the fuel crisis has a national symbolism that dates back to the 1940s<p>Driving down a main road in Liverpool on Tuesday evening, I encountered a long queue of drivers in the left hand lane, all waiting to use the petrol pumps. The <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/mar/28/petrol-tanker-drivers-strike" title="">tanker drivers' strike</a> has not yet been called, and we will be given seven days' notice even if it is, but the panic buying had begun – although "panic buying" is really a misnomer, for the motorists I saw just looked stoical and glum.</p><p>I managed to resist the temptation to join the left hand lane, but I could see why people did. A long queue is such a visible sign that something is amiss, it encourages the herd instinct. Even the most bloody-minded people wonder if the queuers are right and they are wrong. A queue, like anxiety, feeds on itself. In the second world war, when queueing was a daily irritation and necessity, people would join a queue without knowing what was at the end of it, in the expectation that it must be for something worthwhile.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/mar/29/petrol-panic-wartime-spirit-symbolism">Continue reading...</a>Fuel tanker drivers' disputePetrol pricesMotoringTransportRoad transportPsychologyConsumer affairsConsumer spendingMoneyBusinessSocietyUK newsThu, 29 Mar 2012 19:20:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/mar/29/petrol-panic-wartime-spirit-symbolismPhotograph: Popperfoto/Popperfoto/Getty ImagesBritish motorists queue for petrol during the 1973 oil crisis. Photograph: Popperfoto/Popperfoto/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Popperfoto/Popperfoto/Getty ImagesBritish motorists queue for petrol during the 1973 oil crisis. Photograph: Popperfoto/Popperfoto/Getty ImagesJoe Moran2012-03-29T19:20:00ZThe budget: Small change | Editorialhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/mar/23/budget-osborne-growth
George Osborne's budget is less a plan for growth than a plan that hopes for growth<p>Chancellors like their budgets to have themes, stories that inform the media commentary and that the opposition have to respond to. Laying out his <a href="http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/2011budget_speech.htm" title="HM Treasury: Budget">budget yesterday</a>, George Osborne offered two broad possibilities. The first was that this was a "Plan for Growth": a raft of measures to kickstart private-sector activity. Second, the chancellor claimed to be delivering a truly green budget. Yet neither assertion stacks up.</p><p>This remained a budget in search of a theme, a red book that was little more than a footnote to the one issued by the Treasury last year. It was a jumble of measures that pointed in different directions. Another couple of billion kicked into the green investment bank, say, and a price set for carbon – but a headline-grabbing <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/mar/23/budget-2011-fuel-duty-cut-road-lobby" title="Guardian: Budget 2011">cut in fuel duty</a>. A modest rise in personal allowances will, within a few years, be largely swallowed up by the decision to raise income-tax thresholds in line with the CPI measure, rather than the higher RPI. Most importantly, for all the chancellor's talk about growth, as Ed Miliband correctly pointed out, it was undermined by his admission that GDP growth was weaker last year than his officials forecast – and will fall short again this year and next. Some of this was almost inevitable: Mr Osborne is a very political chancellor, with a good nose for which constituencies he needs to shore up, and how to press their buttons. The combination of a spike in oil prices and an effective campaign on petrol costs by shadow chancellor Ed Balls all but guaranteed that the government would reduce fuel duty. Similarly, the fact that the Treasury put out two hefty documents last year setting out its deficit-reduction strategy was always going to leave the chancellor with little room to manoeuvre thereafter. Mr Balls' observation yesterday afternoon that the budget was "Gordon Brown-esque" rings true, even if there is irony in him laying that charge. Mr Brown was another chancellor who set out his macro-economic stall firmly and early, before focusing on a lot of tricksy, clever-clever micro-measures.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/mar/23/budget-osborne-growth">Continue reading...</a>Budget 2011BudgetPetrol pricesRecessionEconomicsBusinessGeorge OsbornePoliticsUK newsWed, 23 Mar 2011 22:21:51 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/mar/23/budget-osborne-growthEditorial2011-03-23T22:21:51ZWe won't trouble Saudi's tyrants with calls to reform while we crave their oil | George Monbiothttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/mar/15/no-call-for-reform-saudi-oil
Unrest will be seen as destabilising for western governments too until our dependency on Riyadh's tap is curbed<p> Did you hear it? The clamour from western governments for <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/12/saudi-protests" title="Guardian: Saudi Arabia's day of little rage">democracy in Saudi Arabia</a>? The howls of outrage from the White House and No&nbsp;10&nbsp;about the shootings on Thursday, the suppression of protests on Friday, the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/14/bahrain-saudi-troops-violent-protests" title="Guardian: Bahrain royal family welcomes Saudi troops to face down violent protests">arrival of Saudi&nbsp;troops in Bahrain</a> on Monday? No?&nbsp;Nor did I.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/mar/15/no-call-for-reform-saudi-oil">Continue reading...</a>OilBusinessSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and North AfricaWorld newsBahrainArms tradePetrol pricesTue, 15 Mar 2011 09:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/mar/15/no-call-for-reform-saudi-oilPhotograph: Ali Haider/EPASaudi Arabian troops in Mecca before the intervention in Bahrain, where the US fifth fleet is based. Photograph: Ali Haider/EPAPhotograph: Ali Haider/EPASaudi Arabian troops in Mecca before the intervention in Bahrain, where the US fifth fleet is based. Photograph: Ali Haider/EPAGeorge Monbiot2011-03-15T09:00:00ZFuel prices: Messing with the motorist | Editorialhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/mar/09/fuel-prices-messing-motorist-editorial
Politicians are coming under pressure because unleaded petrol is expected to break the £6-a-gallon mark<p>George Osborne still has a fortnight before he delivers his budget; but even at this distance, and despite all the usual Treasury secrecy, it is possible to place three bets on what will happen on 23 March. First, the chancellor will do something about petrol prices. That much is clear from statements this week such as "<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/mar/07/george-osborne-hints-fuel-duty-budget" title="">I am looking, of course, at fuel duty</a> … I understand how families are hit hard by the rising cost of oil around the world … and I am seeing what I can do to help". Such unusually heavy hints are difficult to back away from, and it appears more than likely that Mr Osborne will scrap the penny rise in fuel duty planned for April. The chancellor will most probably claim that he is simply undoing a tax rise designed by his Labour predecessor, without fully explaining why he initially accepted it.</p><p>Second, one can predict that any such move by Mr Osborne will be pounced upon by his shadow, Ed Balls, as being mere copy-cattery. Of course, Mr Balls will say, <a href="http://www.edballs4labour.org/blog/?p=1469" title="">I was calling for this last month</a>. What took the chancellor so long?</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/mar/09/fuel-prices-messing-motorist-editorial">Continue reading...</a>Petrol pricesMotoringMoneyTransport policyEconomic policyPoliticsTransportUK newsWed, 09 Mar 2011 00:05:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/mar/09/fuel-prices-messing-motorist-editorialEditorial2011-03-09T00:05:03ZOil prices: Green light from the black stuff | Editorialhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/mar/05/oil-prices-green-light-editorial
Potentially, at least, and if the right lessons are drawn, today's threat could be tomorrow's opportunity<p>It will come as little comfort to many motorists blenching at the pumps today at having to pay <a href="http://www.inautonews.com/uk-alert-petrol-prices-hit-130-a-litre" title="">130p or more a litre</a> to fill up their cars with unleaded petrol, but the surge in the price of oil may not all be bad news. Potentially, at least, and if the right lessons are drawn, today's threat could be tomorrow's opportunity.</p><p>Be clear, however. The 15% jump in the cost of crude oil since the new year will lead to <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ffcc9d76-4368-11e0-8f0d-00144feabdc0,dwp_uuid=6efcd0b0-39bb-11e0-8dba-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1FdXRPKDU" title="">higher inflation and lower growth</a>, particularly if central banks respond by pushing up interest rates. If sustained, this will be the fifth significant rise in oil prices since 1973, and each of the previous four was followed by a recession. This will have <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1361888/Petrol-prices-hit-1-30-litre-Thomas-Cook-adds-160-fuel-surcharge.html" title="">political consequences</a> too. If consumers are paying more for their petrol, domestic energy bills and public transport, they have less to spend on everything else. Historically, support for the government drops when there is a squeeze on disposable incomes of the sort currently being endured. And worse may be to come. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/mar/03/chris-huhne-oil-prices-green-economy?intcmp=239" title="">Chris Huhne, the energy secretary</a>, says there is a real threat of crude prices hitting $160 a barrel; the business secretary, Vince Cable, is warning of a "fully fledged energy and commodity price shock".</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/mar/05/oil-prices-green-light-editorial">Continue reading...</a>Petrol pricesMotoringMoneyOilEnergyFossil fuelsEnvironmentOilCommoditiesBusinessUK newsWorld newsSat, 05 Mar 2011 00:07:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/mar/05/oil-prices-green-light-editorialEditorial2011-03-05T00:07:00ZNow is not the time to keep on trucking | Terry Macalisterhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jan/10/truckers-protest-price-hike-oil
Truckers are planning protests over the rise in excise duties and the price of oil. But rather than protecting this industry, we should be looking for ways of replacing carbon-based transport<p>It is tempting to lend one's support to British truck drivers who will announce today that they are <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/jan/09/fuel-prices-truckers-threaten-blockades?INTCMP=SRCH" title="Observer: Truckers threaten to blockade the streets as crude heads for $100 a barrel">planning to join students</a> and public sector workers protesting against government policies. The haulage industry is a potent force to have on your side: it is capable of bringing the country to a standstill by blockading roads as it did <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/sep/09/peterhetherington.jonhenley?INTCMP=SRCH" title="Guardian: French-style fuel protest hits Britain">in 2000</a> and, to a lesser extent, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7484773.stm" title="BBC: Hauliers protest over fuel prices">two years ago.</a></p><p>The big wheels of trucking argue that a succession of excise duty hikes combined with soaring oil prices are crippling an industry that plays a vital role in taking food to the shops and exports to the docks.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jan/10/truckers-protest-price-hike-oil">Continue reading...</a>Petrol pricesTransportUK newsTransport policyPoliticsProtestWorld newsOilCommoditiesBusinessOilEnergyFossil fuelsEnvironmentMon, 10 Jan 2011 10:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jan/10/truckers-protest-price-hike-oilTerry Macalister2011-01-10T10:00:00ZRabble-rousing about petrol prices | Tim Worstallhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/mar/18/petrol-prices-lindsay-hoyle
Labour's Lindsay Hoyle is ignorant of the facts when he fingers fuel barons for pump prices when his government is to blame<p>In the run up to an election campaign, how useful for us to see how politics actually works in the raw. That view being given to us by Lindsay Hoyle MP in his <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/mar/16/petrol-price-fuel-duty" title="Guardian: 'Labour must do its fuel duty'">recent piece</a> here at Cif.</p><p>In essence, take a legitimate concern – <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/mar/16/petrol-prices-aa-rac-fuel-chancellor-budget-fuel-duty" title="Guardian: 'Petrol prices heading for record high of £5.40 a gallon, AA warns motorists'">the price of petrol</a> – ignore GCSE-level economics (let alone anything more complex), sprinkle with ignorance and finish with some rabble-rousing about the filthy capitalists. All the while glossing over the simple fact that the major determinant of petrol prices is the taxes imposed by the very government that he supports.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/mar/18/petrol-prices-lindsay-hoyle">Continue reading...</a>OilOil and gas companiesConsumer spendingMoneyMotoringConsumer affairsConsumer rightsTaxUK newsTransportPoliticsTax and spendingPetrol pricesThu, 18 Mar 2010 11:30:10 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/mar/18/petrol-prices-lindsay-hoyleTim Worstall2010-03-18T11:30:10ZLabour must do its fuel duty | Lindsay Hoylehttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/mar/16/petrol-price-fuel-duty
Ordinary motorists are being legally mugged by the price of petrol. It's time to put the brakes on fat-cat fuel barons<p>It is with dismay that I note the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/mar/16/petrol-prices-aa-rac-fuel-chancellor-budget-fuel-duty" title="Guardian: Petrol prices heading for record high of £5.40 a gallon, AA warns motorists">current prices displayed at petrol stations</a> up and down the country. What is particularly hard to digest is the total lack of justification for today's prices. The average motorist is <a href="http://www.petrolprices.com/" title="Petrol prices">currently paying</a> just over £1.15 per litre unleaded, with some in London reaching £1.20, already echoing the notorious peak of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/jul/31/petrol.diesel.publictransport" title="Guardian: Sky-high fuel prices push drivers to consider public transport">July 2008</a>.</p><p>However, the <a href="http://www.oil-price.net/" title="Oil Price: Crude Oil and Commodity Prices">cost of crude oil</a> is nowhere near the spike it hit during that time; in fact, it is only just over half. Where, therefore, is the reasoning behind hitting motorists so hard in the wallet? It is, unfortunately, to be located at the desks of a handful of investors instructing market speculators to drive prices up, and sustained by petrol companies not being prepared to pass falls directly on to the consumer.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/mar/16/petrol-price-fuel-duty">Continue reading...</a>OilOil and gas companiesMotoringTransportTravelBusinessMoneyUK newsPoliticsRegulatorsConsumer affairsConsumer rightsConsumer spendingTaxTax and spendingPetrol pricesTue, 16 Mar 2010 16:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/mar/16/petrol-price-fuel-dutyLindsay Hoyle2010-03-16T16:00:00Z